Crafts

Crafts

I

INTRODUCTION

Crafts (also handcrafts or handicrafts), the making of decorative or functional objects, generally by hand. Hand and power tools may be used, however, in making some craft items. The term crafts also refers to the objects made.

II

FUNCTIONS OF CRAFTS

This article is concerned with crafts as creative hobbies, practiced primarily in the home with a minimum of specialized equipment. Crafts as so defined have certain functions. In a world that is becoming increasingly mechanized and standardized, they give people the opportunity to work with their hands and to express their individuality. Crafts also are often used in occupational therapy; for example, a patient might be taught a craft to develop weakened muscles or to help in gaining use of an artificial limb. An emotionally disturbed person might be taught a craft that would serve as an outlet for feelings. Craftwork also provides the disabled with purposeful activity that diverts attention from their handicaps.

Many hobbyists find themselves going into business. A craftsperson who perhaps has at first sold craft items only to friends or at local bazaars may find that increased demand leads to a wider clientele and sales by mail order, at crafts fairs, or through a shop.

There is a fine line of distinction between crafts produced by amateur hobbyists for their personal satisfaction and crafts that in the hands of gifted artisans approach or can be considered art forms, generally made with a view toward the use and enjoyment of others. The difference between hobby-produced crafts and formal decorative art objects lies in the degree of innovation in form and technique and in the intention of the artisan.

Crafts can be grouped by technique or medium. Under the headings that follow are brief descriptions of some of those crafts most popular with hobbyists today, with indications of the degree of skill and basic equipment required.

III

PAPER CRAFTS

Papier-mâché is the craft of fashioning objects from any kind of absorbent paper that has been soaked in a solution of water and glue. When dry, sealant and paint are applied.

Decoupage involves the use of flat pieces of paper (often patterned) to decorate three-dimensional objects, anything from lunch boxes to clocks. Scissors are needed to cut out the designs, and glue is used to attach them. Many coats of varnish are then applied.

Bookbinding techniques can be used to create diaries, photo albums, address books, and notebooks from chipboard, paper, heavy thread, cloth, and glue. Bookbinding requires dexterity and care but is not difficult to learn.

IV

TEXTILE AND FIBER CRAFTS

Weaving is a method of creating fabric by interlacing two sets of yarn threads called the warp and the weft. The warp threads form the base for the weaving; they are arranged parallel to one another and held in tension on a loom. The weft is a single thread that is passed over and under the warp threads in a systematic way to create a solid or patterned piece of cloth. Beginners can outfit themselves inexpensively by making or purchasing simple looms. More advanced weavers working on large pieces use the treadle loom, a large, fairly expensive machine that holds long warp threads and can make quick and complicated changes in the placement of these threads to allow for many patterns.

Basketry is the craft of making baskets and bags, mats, rugs, and other items through weaving, plaiting, and coiling techniques. Traditional basketry materials include reed, cane, rush, sisal fiber, and ash-wood splints. Equipment is simple: a knife, scissors, a sturdy needle for sewing together coiled baskets, and roundnose pliers for pulling difficult reeds. Beginners are able to produce satisfactory, simple products, and more advanced basket makers find challenge in complex patterns and forms.

In macrame, or ornamental knotting, cotton, linen, or jute cord or rug yarn is used to make bags, wall hangings, and containers. A knotting board with pins helps keep the work in place, and a yardstick and scissors are also useful.

In embroidery, a needle and thread are used to create designs on fabric. Many styles of embroidery exist. Some are used to decorate areas on a piece of cloth, usually linen; other styles, notably needlepoint and bargello, are used to fill in completely with pattern an openwork mesh canvas. Embroidery requires frames and hoops to hold the fabric in tension, embroidery needles, scissors, thread, and yarn.

Rug hooking is the craft of making rugs by inserting thin strips of wool through a heavy base fabric by means of a hand hook or a punch needle. In rug knotting, rugs are created by tying pieces of yarn on rug canvas with a tapestry needle or a latch hook, or on warp threads arranged on a loom. Both hooking and knotting require patience and practice but are easily mastered.

In quilting, three layers of fabric (a decorative top layer, filler, and a liner) are stitched or tied together. For patchwork quilts, pieces of cloth are sewn together to form a large, patterned material that serves as the top layer. Quilting calls for templates for cutting patchwork shapes, quilting needles, thread, and scissors. Hand quilting also requires a quilting frame.

Batik is a method of creating patterns on fabric by applying wax to areas of the cloth that will then retain their original color during dyeing. Equipment includes special tools to apply the wax and for dyeing. The process is not difficult but requires care.

Fabric may also be patterned through silk-screen printing. A silk screen is a rectangular frame over which silk has been stretched; on this rests a stencil of the desired pattern or design. As different colors are applied, portions of the screen are blocked out with photographic film, grease ink, wax, paper, or other substance wherever the image is to remain unprinted. The cloth is placed under the screen, and a squeegee is used to force dye through the unblocked portions of the screen, thus transferring the image onto the fabric. Silk-screen printing is also used to print designs on paper with ink or paint.

V

LEATHER CRAFT

Many handsome and useful objects can be fashioned from leather, using cutting, shaping, and joining techniques. The beginner can construct simple projects with a minimum of tools; more involved projects require additional tools and a sure knowledge of working with this expensive material. Besides a utility knife, special tools include leather shears, punches for carving thick leather, a thonging chisel, and a lacing needle.

VI

POTTERY

Ceramic objects can be molded completely by hand or thrown (shaped) on a potter's wheel, a device with a rotating horizontal disk. When the clay hardens, it is fired in a high-temperature oven, or kiln, to strengthen it. To make the object waterproof, glazes may then be applied and the piece fired again. Although hand construction is easy to master, throwing on the potter's wheel requires practice. Several simple tools are used by potters, including sponges, trimming tools, wooden shaping tools, and a banding wheel to facilitate trimming the clay. A potter must have access to a kiln, use of which is generally shared by a group of workers.

VII

WOODWORKING

Such basic woodworking techniques as sawing, joining, and finishing can be employed to make a wide variety of useful and ornamental objects, from jewelry boxes to picture frames. Equipment includes a workbench and carpentry tools, as well as a miter box, a measuring tape, sandpaper, and varnishes.

Wood carving is another craft that both beginning and advanced woodworkers can enjoy. Spoons, bowls, and toys are items that can be created from a piece of wood with only a saw, gouges, a mallet, files, and sandpaper.

VIII

STAINED GLASS

In stained-glass work, pieces of colored glass are held in place with strips of lead to form such things as window ornaments, lampshades, jewelry, and containers. The worker in stained glass needs a workbench area and glass-cutting tools, a hammer, tools for cutting and shaping lead, and a soldering iron. Working in stained glass requires a greater investment of time and money than do many other crafts.

IX

JEWELRY MAKING

Jewelry making ranges from simple work with beads and found objects to advanced metalworking. For work in metal, the jewelry maker needs a basic knowledge of sawing, filing, soldering, and buffing. More advanced techniques include enameling, forging metal, casting (using molds to shape molten metal), and granulation (attaching pieces of metal without soldering). The worker in metal should be equipped with a workbench, hammers, pliers, files, mallets, burnishers, and soldering tools. Attractive innovative jewelry can be made from inexpensive materials; fashioning objects from gold, silver, and gemstones requires a considerable financial investment.

X

OTHER CRAFTS

Many other crafts are practiced today. Among them are work in acrylics and other plastics, bread dough sculpting, knitting and crocheting, making cloth toys and dolls, flower crafts, shell crafts, candlemaking, decorative inlay and marquetry work with wood, stenciling, and making miniatures.

XI

HISTORY OF CRAFTS

Crafts are as old as human history. Originally fulfilling utilitarian purposes, they are now a means of producing objects of intrinsic aesthetic appeal. Among the earliest basic crafts are basketry, weaving, and pottery. Nearly every craft now practiced can be traced back many hundreds or even thousands of years.

Craftwork formed the basis of town and city economies throughout Europe until the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. Once items could be mass-produced, however, individual artisans were no longer needed. In reaction to the effects of industrialization, the Arts and Crafts movement began in England in the late 19th century, led by the designer and social reformer William Morris. The strong interest in crafts throughout the Western world today grew in large part from this movement.

In many parts of the world crafts are still produced as they have been for centuries; Chinese basketry and Indonesian batik are examples. In the southern Appalachian highlands of the United States, basketry and woven goods are made today by much the same methods used by the original settlers of the region; the federal government has made grants to support such traditional work.

Throughout the world, museums of ethnography rely on exhibits of indigenous crafts and artisanry to document the development of various cultures; art museums with archaeological collections frequently supplement their displays of formal art objects by showing examples of related folk crafts. In addition, special museums of folk art and of crafts have been established to preserve and display examples of traditional crafts. Contemporary craft workers can learn much from studying earlier techniques and designs, as well as the work of their peers. Many other sources are available to those interested in learning crafts. Books and magazines on history, techniques, and innovations can be found in great number for every craft. Courses are offered by high schools and colleges, art schools, craft groups, and other organizations. Membership in a craft association is another source of instruction and inspiration. Such associations often sponsor lectures and demonstrations, and they offer the opportunity to share ideas with other members through publications, meetings, and crafts fairs.

Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.